Doctor Answers 5

It is too early to judge t!

October 20th, 2012

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The very important rule with rhinoplasty procedure is not to touch anything till the cast gets removed from your nose. You should not be picking and removing any scabs at this point. You definitely should follow up with your surgeon. Please schedule the appointment and I am sure he will be happy to clean your nose and remove any old blood residue. You do not want to compromise your surgery results by being reckless. The recovery process is crucial and you should follow your surgeon’s instruction. If you not sure what to do, it is better to make a phone call and talk to the office nurse or your surgeon directly.

Different nostril shape 6 days after rhinoplasty

July 9th, 2012

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It is a good idea to stop picking your nose as it is not fully healed and you may disturb the sutures and cause more problems for yourself in the future. The asymmetry now is mainly because of the swelling, crusting, etc which should resolve with time. And the fact that the nostrils were symmetric right after the surgery also speaks for it. Just be patient.

Picking scabs and blood after rhinoplasty is not recommended and CAN change your results.

July 9th, 2012

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Your surgeon likely told you this is not a good thing, since healing wounds can be re-injured and superficial infection or increased scarring result. Scars pull and distort tissues, so this could be affecting your nostril appearance. Over time, scars (unless they are excessive) do soften and settle and stretch, so this may not be a long-term concern.

Unless your surgeon actually performed Weir excisions to decrease the size of your nostrils (and did so differently on one side or the other), nothing has been added or taken away from the actual nostril openings themselves, so internal scar tissue is the only potential affecting issue.

Don't add to scarring by picking! You don't need to talk to your surgeon to find this out--you already knew it, but for sure do now! Best wishes! Dr. Tholen

These answers are for educational purposes and should not be relied upon as
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